St Botolph's Church - The Boston Stump

St Botolph's Church, nicknamed the Boston 'Stump,' is described by Pevsner as ‘a giant among English Parish churches.' It has always been a landmark both to seafarers and people travelling across the flat fenland that surrounds the town.

Replacing an earlier Norman church, construction of the present building commenced in 1309 at the east end and was completed by 1390. The tower construction was started in 1425 - 1430 but not completed until 1510-1520. The Chancel was originally only designed to be three bays long but was lengthened by two additional bays to the east, possibly because of the growing importance of commercial and religious life of the town.

Since the Reformation the building’s exterior has remained much the same. Internally, however, a major programme of work remodelled the church with box pews, a timber and plaster vault and a sweeping away of the medieval screens, rood and seating arrangements. The interior of the church now largely reflects two significant periods of restoration, in the mid 19th century and in the second decade of the 20th century.

Over its 700 years the church has played its part in both national and international history. It will be forever linked through the Puritan emigrants who in 1630 followed in the wake of the Pilgrim Fathers and founded a new Boston in the United States of America. This city has long since surpassed the Lincolnshire Boston in size and importance, but their close links have never been forgotten.

Venue Type:

Heritage site, Sacred space

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Face to face resources

Guided Tours of St Botolph's Parish Church for Schools

The church is an ideal building to help to bring to life a wide variety of subjects for children. It can be used as inspiration for religion, art, history, geography and even maths. If some or all of your group wants to climb the tower (only recommended for older children), there is an extra charge of 50p per pupil. Please make sure that sufficient supervision is provided by your staff for this activity.We will be delighted to display examples of your children’s work made as a result of their visit.

How to obtain

We ask for a minimum donation of 50p donation per pupil for the guided tour to help us continue to care for this fine example of 14th century architecture.To book a visit, please contact Ernie Napier on 01205 362859 at least four weeks before you would like to visit, so we can arrange for one steward per ten students. Please give a contact name at your school, as funerals have to fit in with crematorium timings and the church gets fairly short notice of these services. This may affect the details of your visit.

Website

E-mail

Parish Administrator

Telephone

Parish Administrator

01205 354670

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.